DRTFA, but I'm guessing it's more "6 substances that show cool aspects of physics." on two pages./ heads off to read the article, it better damn well have Glorp. (cornstarch and water non-newtonian fluid)

It did have Sulfur Hexafluoride though... I have fond memories of being the physics aide in high school and having access to the chemical closet which had tanks of SF6 and helium. One time the physics teacher came in and asked if I had a demonstration ready, and I and the chem aide both nodded wordlessly. As soon as he left the chem aide went Whoo! like a chipmunk while I went Whoo! like James Earl Jones.

And I've played with the 'memory metal' before. My wife works for the School of Metallurgy at the University she works at, and they hand this stuff out at High School recruiting drives. I helped set up the cards they handed out last time, and played with this shiat for hours. SOmehow a piece of wire that always returned to its normal shape and did nothing else never got boring.

skozlaw:What's worse? A Cracked article or a bunch of Fark posters biatching about it because they don't understand the phrase "figure of speech"?

It's not a "figure of speech", and it's not "the English language evolving", it's ignorance and laziness. Cracked is famous for bullshiat like this. Farkers are famous for trying to find excuses for people not understanding how words work. It's a symbiotic relationship.

Saiga410:I need to find out how to make Hot Ice. My son would love that.

You don't need that 'hot' ice to do that. You can freeze beer (or other carbonated drinks too) like that as well. There is an narrow range where you can chill beer down to under freezing, but it remains liquid. Give it a shock, like the hot ice, and the movement of the bubbles or something allows the water to then crystallize, forming ice.

"Gallium attacks most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice. Gallium, for example, diffuses into the grain boundaries of Al/Zn alloys[1] or steel,[2] making them very brittle. Gallium easily alloys with many metals, and is used in small quantities as a plutonium-gallium alloy in the plutonium cores of nuclear bombs, to help stabilize the plutonium crystal structure"

According to wiki... It makes me wonder if the military has thought of aerosolizing it, blow a big cloud of that at enemy hardware and suddenly it crumples like that pop can.

LesserEvil:I wonder what Gallium would do to somebody's aluminum rims....

I was thinking something like that. It might make a good CSI episode element. But I'm imagining some real shiatt things you could do with it, things I shouldn't suggest here because I know certain agencies read Fark.

Nope, since there's nothing happening on that front, and we're "exploring" the universe just fine from the comfort of our computer chairs, there's nothing to hate. But wouldn't you hate it too if people took astrology seriously and built their lives around it and demanded that the rest of the human race just follow along? Because Space Nuttery is about as solid as astrology as far as "reality" goes.

It did have Sulfur Hexafluoride though... I have fond memories of being the physics aide in high school and having access to the chemical closet which had tanks of SF6 and helium. One time the physics teacher came in and asked if I had a demonstration ready, and I and the chem aide both nodded wordlessly. As soon as he left the chem aide went Whoo! like a chipmunk while I went Whoo! like James Earl Jones.

One of my chemistry profs said he did the same thing as a grad student, but that it took forever to cough the stuff out of their lungs after they were done having fun. Can you corroborate?

jfarkinB:DVDave: One of my chemistry profs said he did the same thing as a grad student, but that it took forever to cough the stuff out of their lungs after they were done having fun. Can you corroborate?

Never had the opportunity to try it, but:

1) You expel a good bit of the total volume of your lungs whenever you exhale deeply. It would only take a few deep breaths to get back up to mostly-air.

2) You could always bend over.

Actually that's what he said - the three of them stood on their heads against the wall coughing deeply.

neongoats:"Gallium attacks most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice. Gallium, for example, diffuses into the grain boundaries of Al/Zn alloys[1] or steel,[2] making them very brittle. Gallium easily alloys with many metals, and is used in small quantities as a plutonium-gallium alloy in the plutonium cores of nuclear bombs, to help stabilize the plutonium crystal structure"

According to wiki... It makes me wonder if the military has thought of aerosolizing it, blow a big cloud of that at enemy hardware and suddenly it crumples like that pop can.

Funny you should ask that.

Your answer is YES. YES the military has developed it, long ago, actually. I was still in and we had just gotten some new crap to test out, looked like a sort of magic marker, you had different ones for various alloys.

The 'generic aluminum alloy' pen - you could draw a circle on sheet aluminum with it, wait a second, and pop it with your fist, get a nice raggedy hole.

There are many alloys you can destroy with the proper mix. The generic research term for this effect is "liquid metal embrittlement", you use gallium, bismuth and mercury as part of most mixes but there are others as well.

These kids may not be usual, but they will always have a better life than 98% of the U.S. It's kind of hard to give a shiat what farkers think of you when you're snorting coke and drinking champagne partying on your dad's yacht.

It did have Sulfur Hexafluoride though... I have fond memories of being the physics aide in high school and having access to the chemical closet which had tanks of SF6 and helium. One time the physics teacher came in and asked if I had a demonstration ready, and I and the chem aide both nodded wordlessly. As soon as he left the chem aide went Whoo! like a chipmunk while I went Whoo! like James Earl Jones.

One of my chemistry profs said he did the same thing as a grad student, but that it took forever to cough the stuff out of their lungs after they were done having fun. Can you corroborate?

True. You're short of breath after like you ran for miles. I was young and nimble enough to do handstands, so that's what I did to get it out. Anymore, I dunno what I'd do... lie head-down on the stairs?

No, you can't just breathe it out if you're standing upright. That does not work.

To Subby's headline: if they're substances...made of the same stuff the rest of everything is made out of, and not products of some alternate universe/etc./etc....then how, pray tell, could they defy the laws of physics? Whatever they did would, necessarily, be entirely in line with the (actual) laws of physics. Right?